Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrives in the Macao Special Administrative Region for a three-day inspection tour, Oct. 10, 2016. (Photo: China News Service/Liu Zhen)
Premier Li Keqiang arrived in the Macao Special Administrative Region on Monday for a three-day inspection tour.[Special coverage]
Li's plane touched down at the Macao International Airport around noon. He waved to officials, representatives, and children holding flowers and flags.
On landing, Li shook hands with Macao Chief Executive Chui Sai On and Ho Hau Wah, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, who is also a former chief executive of Macao.
In a brief speech at the airport, Li said it was his first visit to Macao and that he was happy to see the smiling children who were Macao' s future. The premier sent the sincere greetings and wishes of the central government to Macao compatriots.
Li recalled attending the inauguration ceremony of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, about six years ago when he had looked at Macao from afar on the Lotus Flower Bridge in Zhuhai.
"Today, I myself step on the treasured soil of the lotus flower of the motherland, also a land that has seen the successful practice of the 'one country, two systems' principle," Li said, adding that he hoped to see Macao's development, folk customs and daily life during his stay.
The premier said he would meet people from all walks of life during his trip, to show that the central government supports Macao as a tourism and leisure center and as a hub of commercial cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.
He said he would announce relevant policies and measures to help Macao speed up its economic development and maintain long-term prosperity and stability.
Li also plans to attend the opening of the fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. (Updated)
